1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a vehicle child safety seat and a harness cover which is attached to a shoulder harness provided in a seat belt of the vehicle child safety seat and which accommodates a shoulder pad therein.
2. Description of Related Art
Japanese Patent Application. Publication No. 2003-276559 (JP2003-276559 A) describes a shoulder pad for a seat belt provided in a vehicle child safety seat. The shoulder pad includes a body portion positioned below a shoulder strap (shoulder harness) so as to abut against a shoulder of a child occupant, a tether strap for attachment to a seat back, and a biforked yoke for connecting the body portion to the tether strap. The shoulder harness is passed through the biforked yoke, and the tether strap extends above the shoulder harness toward a rear side of the seat. Further, the shoulder pad is partially enclosed by a fabric cover.
The shoulder pad is configured such that, in the event of an accident, a friction-increasing surface provided in the body portion is engaged with the shoulder harness. This increases frictional resistance to the shoulder harness, thereby limiting a forward movement of the child.
In the meantime, the vehicle child safety seat is available for children from a baby to an infant. However, a sense of being oppressed may be given to a small infant from the shoulder pad as described above. In view of this, it is preferable to attach or remove the shoulder pad depending on whether an occupant is a baby or an infant.
However, the above-mentioned shoulder pad is configured such that the shoulder strap is passes through a hole between the biforked yoke and the shoulder pad is partially enclosed by the fabric cover. Therefore, attachment and removal operations on the shoulder pad are complicated. That is, generally, the shoulder harness is configured such that an end portion opposite to a tang plate is latched to a latching metal fitting (a hanger) provided on a back-face side of the seat back. As a result, the latching to the hanger should be released on the occasion of attachment and removal of the shoulder pad, which makes the operations complicated.